Jeffrey Coe
I began my career at the USGS in 1988 and joined the Landslide Hazards group in 1996.
Early in my career, I was fortunate to work on an assortment of geologic problems (paleoseismology, structural geology, debris-flow hazards) related to the proposed Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada. I’ve been able to utilize this broad base of experience in the Landslide Hazards group, where I’ve worked on a wide variety of landslide types and topics in the US and abroad. I’m currently the chief of the Landslide Magnitude and Mobility research project based in Golden, CO. My broad research focus is on understanding landslide processes and quantifying landslide hazards. I’m currently interested in gaining a better understanding of the impact that climate change will have on landslide hazards.
Education and Certifications
Kent State University, B.S., 1984, Geology
Colorado School of Mines, M.S., 1995, Geology
Science and Products
Map data showing concentration of landslides caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Results of Hydrologic Monitoring of a Landslide-Prone Hillslope in Portland's West Hills, Oregon, 2006-2017
Inventory of rock avalanches in western Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, 1984-2016: a baseline data set for evaluating the impact of climate change on avalanche magnitude, mobility, and frequency
Map and model input and output data covering N 40.0 40.375 and W 105.25 105.625 in the northern Colorado Front Range for analysis of debris flow initiation resulting from the storm of September 9 13, 2013
Map data and Unmanned Aircraft System imagery from the May 25, 2014 West Salt Creek rock avalanche in western Colorado
Data related to a ground-based InSAR survey of the Slumgullion landslide, Hinsdale County, Colorado, 26 June 2010-1 July 2010
Taking the pulse of debris flows: Extracting debris-flow dynamics from good vibrations in southern California and central Colorado
Inundation, flow dynamics, and damage in the 9 January 2018 Montecito Debris-Flow Event, California, USA: Opportunities and challenges for post-wildfire risk assessment
Landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria: Assessment of an extreme event in Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico on 20 September 2017 and triggered more than 40,000 landslides in at least three-fourths of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities. The number of landslides that occurred during this event was two orders of magnitude greater than those reported from previous hurricanes. Landslide source areas were commonly limited to surficial soils but also extended into und
Field and laboratory hydraulic characterization of landslide-prone soils in the Oregon Coast Range and implications for hydrologic simulation
Using stereo satellite imagery to account for ablation, entrainment, and compaction in volume calculations for rock avalanches on Glaciers: Application to the 2016 Lamplugh Rock Avalanche in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
Results of hydrologic monitoring of a landslide-prone hillslope in Portland’s West Hills, Oregon, 2006–2017
Increasing rock-avalanche size and mobility in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska detected from 1984 to 2016 Landsat imagery
Increasing rock-avalanche size and mobility in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska detected from 1984 to 2016 Landsat imagery
Landslide kinematics and their potential controls from hourly to decadal timescales: Insights from integrating ground-based InSAR measurements with structural maps and long-term monitoring data
The role of initial coherence and path materials in the dynamics of three rock avalanche case histories
Forecasting inundation from debris flows that grow during travel, with application to the Oregon Coast Range, USA
Elucidating the role of vegetation in the initiation of rainfall-induced shallow landslides: Insights from an extreme rainfall event in the Colorado Front Range
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Map data showing concentration of landslides caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria hit the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico as a category 4 storm. Heavy rainfall caused landslides in mountainous regions throughout the territory. This data release presents geospatial data describing the concentration of landslides generated by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. We used post-hurricane satellite and aerial imagery collected between September 26, 201Results of Hydrologic Monitoring of a Landslide-Prone Hillslope in Portland's West Hills, Oregon, 2006-2017
The West Hills of Portland, in the southern Tualatin Mountains, trend northwest along the west side of Portland, Oregon. These silt-mantled mountains receive significant wet-season precipitation and are prone to sliding during wet conditions, occasionally resulting in significant property damage or casualties. In an effort to develop a baseline for interpretive analysis of the groundwater responseInventory of rock avalanches in western Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, 1984-2016: a baseline data set for evaluating the impact of climate change on avalanche magnitude, mobility, and frequency
The effects of climate change have the potential to impact slope stability. Negative impacts are expected to be greatest at high northerly latitudes where degradation of permafrost in rock and soil, debuttressing of slopes as a result of glacial retreat, and changes in ocean ice-cover are likely to increase the susceptibility of slopes to landslides. In the United States, the greatest increases inMap and model input and output data covering N 40.0 40.375 and W 105.25 105.625 in the northern Colorado Front Range for analysis of debris flow initiation resulting from the storm of September 9 13, 2013
Rainfall on 913 September 2013 triggered at least 1,138 debris flows in a 3430 km2 area of the Colorado Front Range. Most flows were triggered in response to two intense rainfall periods, one 12.5-hour-long period on 1112 September, and one 8-hour-long period on 12 September. Data in this project pertain to an area bounded by N 40.0 40.375 and W 105.25 105.625 which includes many of the areas whMap data and Unmanned Aircraft System imagery from the May 25, 2014 West Salt Creek rock avalanche in western Colorado
On May 25, 2014, a rain-on-snow induced rock avalanche occurred in the West Salt Creek Valley on the northern flank of Grand Mesa in western Colorado. The avalanche traveled 4.6 km down the confined valley, killing 3 people. The avalanche was rare for the contiguous U.S. because of its large size (54.5 Mm3) and long travel distance. To understand the avalanche failure sequence, mechanisms, and mobData related to a ground-based InSAR survey of the Slumgullion landslide, Hinsdale County, Colorado, 26 June 2010-1 July 2010
We performed a ground-based, interferometric, synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) survey of the Slumgullion landslide located in Hinsdale County, Colorado. The survey was performed 26 June 2010-1 July 2010 and utilized the IBIS-L InSAR system developed by IDS Corporation. Radar measurements were supplemented by hourly in-situ displacement, pore-water pressure, and rainfall measurements. In-situ displ - Maps
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Taking the pulse of debris flows: Extracting debris-flow dynamics from good vibrations in southern California and central Colorado
The destructive nature of debris flows makes it difficult to quantify flow dynamics with direct instrumentation. For this reason, seismic sensors placed safely away from the flow path are often used to identify the timing and speed of debris flows. While seismic sensors have proven to be a valuable tool for event detection and early warning, their potential for identifying other aspects of debrisAuthorsA. Michel, Jason W. Kean, Joel B. Smith, Kate E. Allstadt, Jeffrey A. CoeInundation, flow dynamics, and damage in the 9 January 2018 Montecito Debris-Flow Event, California, USA: Opportunities and challenges for post-wildfire risk assessment
Shortly before the beginning of the winter rainy season, one of the largest fires in California history (Thomas Fire) substantially increased the susceptibility of steep slopes in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties to debris flows. On January 9, 2018, before the fire was fully contained, an intense burst of rain fell on the portion of the burn area above Montecito, CA. The rainfall and associatedAuthorsJason W. Kean, Dennis M. Staley, Jeremy T. Lancaster, Francis K. Rengers, Brian J. Swanson, Jeffrey A. Coe, Janis Hernandez, Aaron Sigman, Kate E. Allstadt, Donald N. LindsayLandslides triggered by Hurricane Maria: Assessment of an extreme event in Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico on 20 September 2017 and triggered more than 40,000 landslides in at least three-fourths of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities. The number of landslides that occurred during this event was two orders of magnitude greater than those reported from previous hurricanes. Landslide source areas were commonly limited to surficial soils but also extended into und
AuthorsErin Bessette-Kirton, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, William Schulz, Jeffrey A. Coe, Jason W. Kean, Jonathan W. Godt, Matthew A. Thomas, K. Stephen HughesField and laboratory hydraulic characterization of landslide-prone soils in the Oregon Coast Range and implications for hydrologic simulation
Unsaturated zone flow processes are an important focus of landslide hazard estimation. Differences in soil hydraulic behavior between wetting and drying conditions (i.e., hydraulic hysteresis) may be important in landslide triggering. Hydraulic hysteresis can complicate soil hydraulic parameter estimates and impact prediction capability. This investigation focused on hydraulic property estimationAuthorsBrian A. Ebel, Jonathan W. Godt, Ning Lu, Jeffrey A. Coe, Joel B. Smith, Rex L. BaumUsing stereo satellite imagery to account for ablation, entrainment, and compaction in volume calculations for rock avalanches on Glaciers: Application to the 2016 Lamplugh Rock Avalanche in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
The use of preevent and postevent digital elevation models (DEMs) to estimate the volume of rock avalanches on glaciers is complicated by ablation of ice before and after the rock avalanche, scour of material during rock avalanche emplacement, and postevent ablation and compaction of the rock avalanche deposit. We present a model to account for these processes in volume estimates of rock avalancheAuthorsErin Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey A. Coe, Wendy ZhouResults of hydrologic monitoring of a landslide-prone hillslope in Portland’s West Hills, Oregon, 2006–2017
The West Hills of Portland, in the southern Tualatin Mountains, trend northwest along the west side of Portland, Oregon. These silt-mantled mountains receive significant wet-season precipitation and are prone to sliding during wet conditions, occasionally resulting in property damage or casualties. In an effort to develop a baseline for interpretive analysis of the groundwater response to rainfallAuthorsJoel B. Smith, Jonathan W. Godt, Rex L. Baum, Jeffrey A. Coe, William L. Ellis, Eric S. Jones, Scott F. BurnsIncreasing rock-avalanche size and mobility in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska detected from 1984 to 2016 Landsat imagery
In the USA, climate change is expected to have an adverse impact on slope stability in Alaska. However, to date, there has been limited work done in Alaska to assess if changes in slope stability are occurring. To address this issue, we used 30-m Landsat imagery acquired from 1984 to 2016 to establish an inventory of 24 rock avalanches in a 5000-km2 area of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve iAuthorsJeffrey A. Coe, Erin Bessette-Kirton, M. GeertsemaIncreasing rock-avalanche size and mobility in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska detected from 1984 to 2016 Landsat imagery
In the USA, climate change is expected to have an adverse impact on slope stability in Alaska. However, to date, there has been limited work done in Alaska to assess if changes in slope stability are occurring. To address this issue, we used 30-m Landsat imagery acquired from 1984 to 2016 to establish an inventory of 24 rock avalanches in a 5000-km2 area of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve iAuthorsJeffrey A. Coe, Erin Bessette-Kirton, Marten GeertsemaLandslide kinematics and their potential controls from hourly to decadal timescales: Insights from integrating ground-based InSAR measurements with structural maps and long-term monitoring data
Knowledge of kinematics is rudimentary for understanding landslide controls and is increasingly valuable with greater spatiotemporal coverage. However, characterizing landslide-wide kinematics is rare, especially at broadly ranging timescales. We used highly detailed kinematic data obtained using photogrammetry and field mapping during the 1980s and 1990s and our 4.3-day ground-based InSAR surveyAuthorsWilliam Schulz, Jeffrey A. Coe, P.P Ricci, Gregory M. Smoczyk, Brett L Shurtleff, J PanoskyThe role of initial coherence and path materials in the dynamics of three rock avalanche case histories
BackgroundRock avalanches are flow-like landslides that can travel at extremely rapid velocities and impact surprisingly large areas. The mechanisms that lead to the unexpected mobility of these flows are unknown and debated. Mechanisms proposed in the literature can be broadly classified into those that rely on intrinsic characteristics of the rock avalanche material, and those that rely on extriAuthorsJordan Aaron, Scott McDougall, Jeffrey R. Moore, Jeffrey A. Coe, Oldrich HungrForecasting inundation from debris flows that grow during travel, with application to the Oregon Coast Range, USA
Many debris flows increase in volume as they travel downstream, enhancing their mobility and hazard. Volumetric growth can result from diverse physical processes, such as channel sediment entrainment, stream bank collapse, adjacent landsliding, hillslope erosion and rilling, and coalescence of multiple debris flows; incorporating these varied phenomena into physics-based debris-flow models is chalAuthorsMark E. Reid, Jeffrey A. Coe, Dianne BrienElucidating the role of vegetation in the initiation of rainfall-induced shallow landslides: Insights from an extreme rainfall event in the Colorado Front Range
More than 1100 debris flows were mobilized from shallow landslides during a rainstorm from 9 to 13 September 2013 in the Colorado Front Range, with the vast majority initiating on sparsely vegetated, south facing terrain. To investigate the physical processes responsible for the observed aspect control, we made measurements of soil properties on a densely forested north facing hillslope and a grasAuthorsLuke McGuire, Francis K. Rengers, Jason W. Kean, Jeffrey A. Coe, Benjamin B. Mirus, Rex L. Baum, Jonathan W. Godt - Web Tools
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